l'esprit d'escalier

The "spirit of the stair" its called. l'esprit d'escalier. imagine having an awkward conversation or a quarrel with someone and being tongue tied and not knowing what to say. Then as you're walking down the stairs on ya way to the coat rack you suddenly come up with this brilliant comeback or sarcastic comment you should have made that would surely have left the opposition at a loss for words and reeling in disarray, winning the match like Federer versus Davydenko at the Melbourne Open, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

i find that true for myself in many situations as well, even those of a non-confrontational nature. For instance, at the IMPACT Conference last week for fresh australian students trying to link up with churches and/or campus christian groups down under, i found myself tongue-tied at sudden moments when called upon to talk about my university or what Architecture as a course was like or even why prospective students coming over in June should consider Newcastle-upon-Antipodes instead of Sydney (that fantastic Con of a city) or Melbourne (2nd best Sydney). All i could come up with were some nervous jokes about Newcastle being more regional and scenic than the metropolitan cities which are great breeding grounds for vampires who hate the sun, and where rascism is open and above board rather than disguised and hypocritical. Better to get bashed in broad daylight than stabbed in the back at night right?

Or at Bible study last Friday when i should have said that the new Michael Morrow song i'd like to share was meaningful for the lines "His is the right to rule my life, mine is the joy to live for Him" and how contemporary christianity has man (specifically each individual..read: me) as the centre of the universe, with God revolving around him, doing my bidding and at my beck and call whereas the New Testament is quite clear that Jesus Christ is the centre of the universe, with me at the periphery revolving around Him, to do His bidding and His calling. (at least, thats how the early church preached Christ). Like Tim Keller i want to see a Copernican Revolution in our view of God, life, and the meaning of existence and the best way to do it is from the ground up, in small Bible Study groups around the world.

Instead, all i said was i like this song because its very challenging for christians and because i think contemporary christian music doesn't challenge christians out of complacency enough. i know. Pathetic isn't it? The spirit of the stair strikes again.